Mutual Benefit
Jessica Swire comes from a wealthy Victoria family. Thanks to the size of her family and her father's favor, she didn't need to consider political marriages, and her successful older brother also meant she didn't have to worry about inheriting the family business.
Under the guidance of an excellent tutor, she completed all the coursework expected of a contemporary college student by the age of fifteen, and then became an extreme sports enthusiast.
This is the choice made by a girl who has had everything since childhood, and therefore lacks "what she wants".
Mountain climbing, skydiving, car racing, rock climbing, and even wilderness survival in the rainforest with only a small knife... Perhaps her privileged life laid a solid foundation for her, or perhaps she truly has a talent for these activities. No matter how dangerous the sport, she can quickly master it, and then lose interest after a brief period of thrill and excitement.
At nineteen, she returned to her hometown and, after a two-month rest, devised a career that was exciting enough, respectable enough, and would allow her to utilize everything she had learned during her years of adventures—
War correspondent.
But her father, who had always given her everything, refused her request and handed her over a small Newspaper Agency he'd acquired from who-knows-where, making it clear to her—
Want to be a war correspondent? Sure, but only if you run this Newspaper Agency well enough to publish war correspondent reports!
So Ms. Jessica was forced to work for a tabloid reporter at Newspaper Agency that, while not bankrupt, was not very influential.
Jessica knew very well that although she was very much loved, now that the old man had made his decision, it was no longer something that could be solved by whining.
Therefore, the only way for her to achieve her goal was to do as her father said.
The best way to grow a tabloid to a sufficient size is to produce several big news stories—preferably exclusive ones.
Feng Xue had no idea what the wealthy woman in front of him was thinking, but when he heard that she was planning to do an "exclusive interview," he was completely captivated. His original idea of not cooperating unless it was a coin had been thrown to the back of his mind, and he even had the extravagant thought that "one interview is not enough, it would be best to have several."
Just kidding, that was an exclusive interview! An exclusive interview with a rich woman!
What does this mean? It means that even if nobody reads this report, the wealthy woman will still buy traffic!
Do you even understand the value of traffic?!
For Wu, traffic is life!
Seeing Feng Xue in a daze, Jessica turned her head and immediately saw the BMW by the roadside. She immediately had some inappropriate thoughts, but said nonchalantly:
"My current apartment doesn't have a parking space, so I can just park on the street. It won't cost me much in fines anyway."
"..." Feng Xue just grinned at this, then followed behind Jessica. After a few steps, they arrived at Jessica's house.
Like the BMW, although the two-story villa in front of them would be unaffordable for ordinary people, it seemed a bit shabby on Jessica, a wealthy woman whose clothes could be worth tens of thousands of pounds.
However, the wealthy woman didn't seem to care much. She took out her key, turned the Door Lock, and then waved to Feng Xue:
Come in.
"..." Feng Xue narrowed his eyes, channeled his Internal Force to his ears, and confirmed that there was no unusual noise around him. His spiritual sense did not detect any danger, except that he could occasionally sense a few gazes, but there was no hostility. Considering the rich woman's wealth, Feng Xue guessed that they were probably bodyguards sent by her family.
After confirming there was no danger, Feng Xue stepped into the room, which was difficult to describe.
The house is less of a villa and more like a detached house like those in Japan. It is roughly divided into two floors, with a living area of about 150 square meters. The interior space is not large, but it is not too small either. Although the furniture and decorations seem ordinary, the materials used are enough to make an expert's heart skip a beat.
It's like the feeling that if an ordinary person accidentally breaks something, they couldn't afford to pay for it even if they worked their whole life.
"Sit down, would you like some coffee?" Jessica made herself a cup of coffee, and Feng Xue didn't stand on ceremony either. She took off her bulky top and tossed it aside, casually sat down on a single sofa, and shook her head, saying:
"Just give me plain water."
"Okay." Jessica's eyes flickered slightly when she saw Feng Xue take off her coat, revealing an elegant dress. She immediately placed a delicate porcelain cup that looked somewhat old-fashioned in front of Feng Xue, then took out a voice recorder, notebook, and other props from her handbag. With an eager look, she pulled out a coin and said:
Let me do an exclusive interview with you.
Although Feng Xue was willing to do anything for nothing, Feng Xue couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when she saw the other party take out a coin. This thing was much more troublesome to use than she had imagined, but on the other hand, once she understood the hidden rules, it was also much easier to use than she had imagined.
Refining his original plan in his mind, he reached out and took the coin Jessica offered, nodding and saying:
Where should we begin?
"Let's start with the most basic self-introduction. What's your name?" Jessica turned on the recorder, but Feng Xue shook her head and said:
"I can't say."
"Oh, I see, the demon's real name, right?" Jessica showed no displeasure at Feng Xue's refusal to answer the question. Instead, she nodded as if she had just realized something, and then said:
"Then can you tell me your identity? The Coin Demon, or the Demon Chef? Or perhaps both?"
Having anticipated Jessica's question, Feng Xue straightened her collar, which was slightly disheveled from forcibly putting on a coat, and gave a gentle smile:
"I am 'Deal', and 'Cooking' is the other one. However, I'm not familiar with him, so if you ask 'Cooking' to cook a meal, I will impersonate him. Of course, there won't be any difference in the result, after all, it's a deal."
"'Trading' and 'cooking'... aren't they 'greed' and 'gluttony'?" Jessica retorted, but Feng Xue put on a serious expression and said:
"You can interpret it that way, but people become greedy because of my transactions, and gluttonous because of 'cooking.' That's your problem, not our goal. Besides, the so-called demons in your country are a derogatory term. In fact, in that so-called Christianity scripture, the vast majority of demons are slanders against the beliefs of other civilizations."
Although Jessica is a believer in Christianity, it is largely due to her family's influence. As a modern person living in Informatization society, she certainly knows that what the other person said is true.
Therefore, she was not angered by this "devil's" disrespect for Christianity, but rather asked with a hint of inquiry:
"So, Mr. 'Transaction,' what is your purpose in distributing these counterfeit coins? And were you also responsible for the recent vandalism of Christianity buildings? Or was it 'Anger'?"
I accept that the protagonist got the short end of the stick again, but to say he lost his mind is going too far. Don't look at it from an omniscient perspective. From the protagonist's point of view, in what way did he lack intelligence?
He knew beforehand that there was an ambush, but he chose to attend the trap to maintain his "credibility." If he didn't go, the value of the coins would plummet, rendering half of his Money Printer's Tag worthless. This wasn't something that could be undone; doing it again would be seen as copying him because of the precedent. In other words, unless he changed countries (and couldn't know anything about this country) and started over, all the Phantom Object printed by his Money Printer would be ruined. Therefore, attending the banquet was reasonable.
Secondly, he had made preparations and planned his escape route. It was a low-probability event for someone to suddenly appear in a secluded Locker Room of a luxury clothing store; it could only be described as bad luck.
As for giving coins instead of acupressure, it's because the protagonist intended to collect all the coins and then distribute the new Phantom Coin.
As for Jessica's side, a rich kid who heard the Queen was going to attend the "Demon Chef's " banquet asked for an interview slot. It wouldn't be a problem for him to change clothes in a nearby upscale shop half an hour before heading there, right?
If the protagonist made a mistake, it was using the Phantom Object without understanding its characteristics. But without using it, you can't know its characteristics.
In the end, all the coincidences that befell the protagonist can be attributed to the "curse" of the "Lucky Alexandrite Gemstone," which destined him to encounter "adventures" that ordinary people would never experience in their entire lives, and he had no choice in whether these adventures were good or bad.